Pat McGoey's Art Adventures

In March I took that step... packed up my apartment and headed off for a cross country plein air painting adventure of a lifetime. It was a tad cold for camping so I headed down to Florida to spend time with family and fine tune my plein air method, tools and travel materials. A good plan! While there I was invited to a Jupiter FL painters group to give them a day-long colour workshop and I also had the pleasure of spending the morning at an elementary art school class, revealing the fun of painting! Not to mention the pure pleasure of plein air painting at the beach with my grandson!

In June it was time to get down to painting business and head north to begin my Canadian Cross Country Painting Adventure of My Life! Starting in the east in Newfoundland and ending in the west in British Columbia sometime late fall.

A dear friend has a cabin south of St John's and offered it to me to stay while I painted. The first day I encountered the kindness of folks and the Newfoundland hospitality that can't be found anywhere else in the world. I am entranced with the beauty of the rocks. It makes you feel calmer then you have ever felt.

I look forward to heading north to Fogo Island and then to the Gros Morne a beautiful national park.

What a beginning!

Pat McGoey

Bay of Fundy on the way to catch the ferry from Sydney NS to Newfoundland

Spring in February

February 15, 2015

One cold day a few months ago this show took shape… it is a frigid -18outside. I am busy painting indoors, it is a solitary practice and feels isolating in winter unlike other art-forms that are group activities like bands, orchestras and dance troupes. What to create next? Fortunately I maintain my precious photo bank with four seasons of inspiration; water and rock, forests, mountain passes, sunrises, vases of flowers… the seeds for visual prolific minds with endless amounts of imagination.

A show is born... Hedi Nowak, owner of the Gallery Upstairs at The Harrop Restaurant in Milton had an idea. “Everyone needs an optimistic glimpse of spring flowers - especially in February!” Flowers inspire every artist, they are colourful, organic, fanciful and the central subject of paintings by many great masters. Yes, artists have their own creative library of photos, however with access to The Harrop Restaurant and its beautiful rich interior, the thought to create a photo resource from this historic building and hold a unique photo and art show was intriguing.

It took under a week for five artists and a photographer to meet for collaboration and inspiration. Creating the themes for the scenes, shots and paintings, photographer Ramal Bhamra and artists Adrianna Rinaldi, Anne More, Katherine Magee, Pat McGoey and Wendy Bowe confirmed, “great idea, let’s work together”. The “Spring Flowers in February” show was born.

Day-Long Photo Shoot... On the day of the photo shoot each artist brought flowers, vases and props to stage the restaurant. Typically artists and photographers spend hours setting up a “still life” scene in order to get the light just right with a balanced composition. Furniture was moved, carpets removed, nooks and crannies explored. Our shoot began to take form... it took just over two hours to set up and capture the first shot. Oh that magic shot by the photographer with just the right light and reflection with the perfect composition saying “paint me”. The artists were also using their own cameras to focus on a scene that grabbed their attention. Excitement was building as the project began to take shape. Over the course of seven hours 300 shots were captured. With Ramal’s professional eye, 48 final photographs emerged.

The creative opportunities for the artists was unlimited; they could use the photographer’s images or their own, select their own canvas sizes, medium, colour palette and even the number of paintings the choose to paint.

Ready for the Show... Fast forward several months - the artists are sharing their works and the results are breathtaking! Art, workmanship and experience all come together to make this a spectacular event, which showcases the original photograph and the artist’s unique interpretation of its composition, colour and execution. In the end painting is about imaginative story telling with the artist as the author and the observer as the reader.

Every artist in this show has his or her own unique signature style. One artist uses layers of transparent glazes, another fine brush strokes and yet another a palette knife. One painting is realistic and the next impressionistic, one palette contains neutral earth tones and the next bold primary colours.

You are invited to warm up your winter and attend this collaborative artistic fusion!

The show runs from Saturday February 21 until March 28, 2015

Special Invitation - if you call in advance and let us know you are coming to see the show, you will receive a small giftwaiting for you to remember this inspiring show! For your gift, call HEDI at 905-875-8134 or email: hedimnowak@hotmail.com